


Cotton Candy

by softperseus



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxious Lance (Voltron), Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Keith (Voltron) Is Trying, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, he only has a crush on one (1) of them though, lance appreciates attractive people, movie theater AU, they all work at a movie theater and cute shit ensues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28912911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softperseus/pseuds/softperseus
Summary: Lance's job at Altea Cinema has always been perfect. It was a local, family-owned business with nice owners, and all the employees got free movie tickets and cheap concessions. He'd met all of his best friends there, and all the regulars loved him. It paid well enough that he could afford to feed his cat, and furnish his tiny studio apartment a few miles away. He'd convinced himself that things were perfect.When Keith shows up as the theater's newest employee, courtesy of Shiro, Lance can't help his interest. As the two get closer, they realize just how similar they are, and how much they enjoy each other's company, and they soon realize that spending time together at work isn't enough.
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 29





	Cotton Candy

**Author's Note:**

> think coffee shop au but instead of coffee there's cotton candy n tossing popcorn into ur lover's mouth and sneaking into the arcade while ur on the clock <3

Lance wasn’t expecting much. Wednesday mornings were always slow, and the fact that most schools in the area had just started back up for the fall wouldn’t help. His university courses wouldn’t be starting again until next week, so he was stuck working all the slow shifts until then.

Working at a movie theater was fun, sure, but weekdays during school hours only really brought in mean, old people, and Lance was _not_ about that. Especially since Hunk had taken the week before classes off to prepare for his senior courses. 

Curse Hunk and his stupidly responsible self. 

Lance shuffled to the front doors with a sigh, Starbucks in one hand, keys in the other. Shiro’s car was already in the parking lot, but it was empty other than that. At least he could open quickly, and then enjoy his coffee in peace, maybe catch up with Shiro a bit. 

He went through the motions, letting himself in, humming as he clocked in and turned on all the snack machines, before meandering back to the managerial offices. The theater wouldn’t be open for a little while yet, and Lance always enjoyed chatting with Shiro about upcoming movies or company events. 

He entered the back rooms with a quiet knock so he wouldn’t startle Shiro—Lance had walked in on him singing an off-key rendition of a Britney song once, and scared him so badly, he’d spilled coffee all over himself—and was surprised to see another person already in the room with him. 

“—eith, honestly, it’s not that bad,” Shiro said with a frown. The boy standing in front of him had his back to Lance, but he was fumbling with his shirt, tucking it haphazardly into his jeans. 

Lance stared for a moment, before coughing awkwardly into his fist, and Shiro’s attention snapped to him. The other boy barely stiffened before resuming his fiddling, not even bothering to glance back at him. 

“Lance!” Shiro smiled at him over the other boy’s shoulder, looking a little relieved at Lance’s presence. “Perfect timing.”

He gripped the boy’s shoulders and spun him to face Lance, ignoring the sputtering he got in retaliation. 

“This is my brother, Keith.” Keith’s shirt was wrinkled, and awkwardly stuffed into his jeans, but Lance quickly realized that he was wearing an employee polo. “Today’s his first day on the job.” 

Lance stared dumbly for a moment, pinned by the harsh scowl that Keith had fixed on him, and gave Shiro a slow nod. 

Lance hadn’t even realized that they were hiring. Huh.

“And, unfortunately, I have a _ton_ of stuff to get done today,” Shiro chuckled weakly, “so, it’d be a huge help if you could train him for me.” 

That caught Lance’s, and Keith’s, attention.

“Shiro, you said—” Keith whipped his head to stare Shiro down, before being shut down with one stern look. 

“I said I’d train you because I knew that was the only way you’d actually come,” Keith opened his mouth to argue again, but Shiro refused to surrender. “Besides, shift leaders are usually the ones who train newbies anyway, not managers, and Lance is one of our best.” He gestured over to Lance with a smile, who tried not to beam at the praise. 

Lance shrugged with a grin, feigning nonchalance, and took a sip of his coffee to hide his blush. 

Hunk and Pidge would definitely be hearing about _that_ little nugget of praise. 

Keith groaned, and slumped into one of the office chairs. Shiro rolled his eyes with a huff of his own, and refocused on Lance. 

“Could you head upstairs and turn projectors on for me, buddy? I’ll deal with him,” he tilted his head in Keith’s direction, “and then send him up to concessions for you, okay? It should be a slow day, so training should be easy enough.”

“Yeah, of course!” Lance smiled, and tried to keep his voice light. He would _not_ be a second reason for Shiro to be stressed today. “I’ll take care of unlocking doors and everything too, don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you, Lance.” Shiro shoulders sagged with relief, and Lance was reassured by the sight. 

He glanced at Keith again as he grabbed a few cash drawers for the register’s up front, but Keith’s gaze was stuck to the floor, his eyebrows furrowed. He tried not to take it personally.

**~**

**lancey lance**  
no u guys don’t get it  
he’s like . HOT hot 

**pidgeon**  
HOT hot 

**lancey lance**  
shut up u know what i mean  
how tf did i not know that shiro has a sexy brother wtf  
i mean i guess it shouldn’t surprise me that his sibling is hot too

**hunk <3**  
TOO???!!  
HHFSJS 

**lancey lance**  
IS IT BULLY LANCE DAY TODAY WTF  
SHIRO IS OBJECTIVELY HOT LEAVE ME ALONE

**pidgeon**  
i love being handed free blackmail content 

**lancey lance**  
pidge if u ever tell anyone that i think shiro is hot i will end u

**pidgeon**  
:) 

**lancey lance**  
hunk pls save me. ur my only hope

**hunk <3**  
i wont let pidge tell anyone <3 

**lancey lance**  
thank u king my one true friend in the entire universe

**hunk <3**  
<3  
ok SO. tell us more about keith 

**lancey lance**  
omg okay SO  
he’s like hot but in an EdGy way  
like he probably beats people up and listens to mcr or something  
but in a sexy way ????

**hunk <3**  
there’s a sexy way to beat people up and listen to mcr??? 

**pidgeon**  
WHATS WRONG WITH MCR 

**lancey lance**  
pidge…  
anyway.  
he was also kinda mean tho ngl  
like all huffy to shiro and he didn’t say a single word to me  
just stared at me like >://  
like sir it is not That Deep

**hunk <3**  
oh yikes 

**pidgeon**  
oh joy  
another asshole employee :D 

**lancey lance**  
yeah…  
idk though im sure he’ll be fine eventually  
shiro is making me train him tho LMAO

**pidgeon**  
omg lol 

**lancey lance**  
and he made me leave the room ahead of them LOL  
keith is definitely getting a Dad Talk  
Brother Talk??? 

**hunk <3**  
omg scary shiro 

**lancey lance**  
yeah SO i’ll keep u guys updated  
hopefully shiro schedules him for this weekend so u guys can see him asap 

**hunk <3**  
yes!!! i want to meet hot scary mcr man 

**pidgeon**  
same  
pretty sure im either gonna hate him or take him on as an evil apprentice 

**lancey lance**  
god  
ok guys gtg i see a grandma waddling in  
i’ll keep u updated though BYE

**~**

Keith had found his way to the concession stand just as Lance started up the old woman’s order. Lance had puttered around, quick as always, filling up a bag of popcorn and her drink, effortlessly moving around Keith, who mumbled a quiet _sorry_ before moving out of the way. He finished ringing her up, smiling brightly and waving goodbye, before awkwardly turning to Keith.  


“So…” Lance let his voice trail off, and tapped his fingers against his thighs, anxious to deal with the silent treatment again. He gestured halfheartedly in the direction the old woman had gone. “Old ladies sure do love buttered popcorn at eleven in the morn—" 

“Sorry,” Keith spoke over him quickly, eyes trained on Lance’s feet, brow still furrowed. “I was a dick earlier. I should’ve introduced myself. I’m Keith.” 

He shoved his hand forward, looking painfully uncomfortable, and Lance couldn’t help but chuckle at his aggressive apology. He took the outstretched hand, and Keith’s eyes snapped up to his own. He looked shocked, as if he wasn’t expecting Lance to accept it. 

“It’s fine, man. First days are tough, I get it.” Lance smiled, finding Keith’s shock endearing. “Shiro must’ve done a number on you, to get you to come apologize. You don’t seem the type, no offense.” 

Keith immediately frowned again, crossing his arms over his chest, and Lance could see the blush creep onto his cheeks. 

“It’s not—He just—” Lance raised an eyebrow, waiting for Keith to find his words. “Earlier, I was just… mad about the uniform." 

“The uniform." 

Keith huffed, exacerbated, throwing his arms wide and staring down at himself. 

“Yes, the _fucking_ uniforms,” he growled. “I look like an idiot with my shirt tucked in like this. God forbid, Shiro makes me buy a pair of fucking _slacks_ , or something.” 

Lance really tried to never laugh at people. He really did. But, something about Keith, this seemingly edgy stranger, pouting about having to tuck in his shirt, and even _think_ about wearing slacks, was a bit too much. 

He let out an unattractive snort at Keith’s incredibly overdramatic display of distaste for proper work attire, and slapped a hand over his mouth to hide it, but he lost it again at the complete look of betrayal that Keith threw at him. 

“Shut up,” Keith snapped at him, but there was no real heat behind it. It only made Lance laugh harder, seeing him get so riled up over something so stupid. 

“Yeah,” Lance spoke through his laugh. “ _Fuck_ slacks, dude.” 

Keith rolled his eyes at the sarcasm, but Lance could see him trying to contain his smile. 

“Oh, god, dude. Pidge is gonna love you.” 

**Author's Note:**

> i apologize for all the setting up that needed to be done, but i hope this will interest people! i work at a movie theater, and i know everyone loves coffee shop au's (so do i), but i swear to god i've been exposed to so much romantic shit while on the clock so yes i am projecting that onto klance. also yes the title will come into play later, i promise :')
> 
> this is my first published fic ever, so please leave kudos, and comments would be so appreciated! 
> 
> thank u so much <3


End file.
